Earlier this week, Kevin arrived in Fes! Since I was pretty busy most of the week with school, we decided to plan a weekend away from Fes to explore and relax. Of all the cities in Morocco, we chose Meknes and Ifrane to visit as they are both close to Fes thus minimizing travel time and costs.
We woke up Saturday and had breakfast with some friends in the medina (city center) at a wonderful place called café clock. Then we took a taxi to the train station to catch a train to Meknes. It was interesting to me that the train system in Morocco is ONCF, the french rail company. The train station in Fes is gorgeous!
It was 20 dh for the train to Meknes, about a 30 minute ride from Fes. We were rolling along and just as I was falling asleep against the window I heard a loud CRACK and saw that one of the windows in the train had been hit by a rock and shattered! Meknes was interesting. Many people told me before I left that Meknes "is just like Fes, but smaller with fewer tourists". I agree that it was smaller and there were far fewer tourists than in Fes, but it was nothing like Fes! The windy stone streets of the Fassi medina are a world away from the makeshift tent souks of Meknes. Kevin and I explored the souk in Meknes and were not hassled as tourists, or asked to come into anyone's shop! I bought a pair of simple black sneakers as close toed shoes are a must in the medina. I also found a set of magnetic arabic letters that I couldn't pass up!
Kevin and I stayed at a Riad in Meknes. Riad's are traditional moroccan homes centered around a courtyard, many of which have recently been turned into guesthouses. Ours was clearly built recently to be a hotel, but it was absolutely gorgeous. The people at the front desk gave us a nice price for the room, as the original price was a little over our budget. Here is our room!
Since we splurged a little bit on our lodging arrangements, we went out looking for a cheap eat for dinner. We looked at the menu of one place but it was too expensive. As we walked out of the restaurant, the manager asked where I was going. I talked to him in arabic about how I am a student in Fes and it was a little too expensive for us. He asked our price range, and I said I wanted to pay 10 dh for dinner (about $1.20) and he smiled and told us he would feed us for 10 dh! We were treated so kindly just because I was a student of arabic, trying to learn their language! Kevin and I dined on the rooftop terrace overlooking the main square in Meknes, eating to our hearts content.
The next day, we visited the sites of Meknes which basically means anything to do with Moulay Ismail, a one time ruler of Morocco who had 800 children and 350 wives! We visited his tomb, one of the few religious sites that non-Muslims can enter. The tomb was so beautiful! Then we visited an area of the royal palace which included the giant granary which once held 12,000 horses and all the food for the city. Next to the granary is the large reservoir that was build to irrigate the royal gardens.
After we had had enough of Meknes, we walked to the taxi rank to head towards Ifrane. There are two kinds of taxis in Morocco: Petite taxis and grand taxis. The petite taxis are smaller, only holding 3 passengers, and only travel within city limits. Each city has their own color taxi. Fes is red, Meknes was blue and Ifrane was green. Grand taxis are old mercedes, and hold 6 passengers. 4 people in the back and 3 in front including the driver. This makes for quite a squishy ride. No seat belts. No wiggle room. Quite the experience. We whizzed along towards Ifrane as the driver blasted moroccan tunes.
We arrived safely in Ifrane. For the first good while, Kevin and I stumbled around the city looking confused, as Ifrane is like no other Moroccan city. It can be compared to a Swiss town in the mountains. It was set up the the French as a skiing resort town, and it just stuck I guess. We stayed at the Grand Hotel in Ifrane which looks like a mountain resort hotel. Kind of expensive, but there were not many other options in Ifrane. There is only really a university there, and the king has his winter palace there too. I don't blame him! Its so beautiful! The streets are so clean, there were actually trash cans for once! People didn't hassle us either, some looked at us curiously wondering why two young americans would be wandering around Ifrane.
Today we went on a hike through the juniper and ceder forests right outside Ifrane near a town called Ras El Ma. It was serene. The only noises were the birds chirping and our feet against the gravelly ground. Once in the forest, we noticed a boy our age following us on his bike. Everywhere we walked, he would follow us. At one point, Kevin picked up a rock just in case something happened. There was no one for miles, just us three in this forest! Luckily we walked back out of the forest into the river valley and he stopped following us. How strange!
We saw patches of snow, giant trees (with moss!!!), and wildflowers! The area is known for a monkey species, but we saw no monkeys. Oh well! I got a slight forehead sunburn typical of long hikes in high altitude places, but it is absolutely worth that hike. Each breath I took was full of wonderful forest smells that I didnt realize I missed so much after city life in Morocco. The place reminded me a lot of Pinecrest, CA where the air so clean. Kevin and I made a pact to spend more time up at Pinecrest once we make it back to the U.S.
Now I am back in Fes and preparing for a tough week at school! That's life I guess! It has been so great having Kevin around to explore Morocco with. This weekend was exactly what I needed, getting out of the city and into the countryside!
Till next time,
Michelle
